Organist, Choral Conductor,
Church Musician
Dr. Michael Plagerman was appointed Director of Sacred Music at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in 2022. His areas of musical expertise are mainly in the realm of liturgical music, choral direction, and organ playing, and he has served as a church music director for the last sixteen years. Michael previously worked as the Director of Music and Liturgy at All Saints Parish (Corning, NY), Graduate Assistant Conductor of the Cornell University Chorus and Chamber Choir, and in the same capacity for the Women’s Liturgical Choir at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame, and as Assistant Director of the chapel choir at Pacific Lutheran University. Michael studied choral direction and vocal pedagogy with Richard Nance, Brian Galante, Stephen Spinelli, Deborah Mayer, and Stephen Lancaster.
Michael has performed widely as an organist throughout the country at venues including the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame, St. James' and St. Mark’s Cathedrals, Seattle, St. Luke Lutheran in Ithaca, NY, and many others. In 2023-24 he was the Visiting Lecturer in Organ and Acting University Organist at Pacific Lutheran University, where he succeeded his own undergraduate organ professor, Paul Tegels. Michael holds degrees (B.Mus, M.S.M, M.F.A, D.MA.) in organ from Pacific Lutheran University (summa cum laude), the University of Notre Dame, and Cornell University, and has studied with Craig Cramer, Douglas Reid, Nathan Laube, Annette Richards, and Christophe Mantoux, in addition to Paul Tegels. Michael is the recipient of the Craig Cramer Prize in Organ Performance from Notre Dame and the James D. Holloway Prize, which is PLU’s highest prize in the music department across all media. His research focuses on the sounds and uses of organs in Boston at the end of the 19th century. Additionally, Michael holds the Choirmaster Certificate from the American Guild of Organists.
Thoughout 2023 and 2024 Michael oversaw the selection, fundraising campaign, and installation process of Bigelow and Company Op. 31/45 "The Ruth and Paul Manz Organ" at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament. This project will reach its culmination in the summer of 2026 with the installation of the Horizontal Trumpet. This will be the first organ of suitable size and disposition to be housed in the 100 year-old church. In addition to the Manz organ, Michael oversaw the fundraising for and purchase of Fisk Op. 163, "The Scheetz-Biermann Organ," a seven-stop continuo organ.
In the spring of 2025, Michael led the Cantorei of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in the world premiere of Kile Smith’s Jesus Stood on the Shore, a 20-minute work for choir, soloists, and organ. In that same spring, Michael premiered Judith Bingham’s The Seven Last Words for solo organ in the context of Blessed Sacrament’s observance of Tre Ore. When not making music, Michael enjoys recreating at his family’s central Washington farm and otherwise enjoying life with his lovely wife, Erin.